Educational Summer Program Launches New Photography Track

PRLog (Press Release) - Dec. 19, 2012 - NEWPORT, PA – Longacre Leadership (http://www.longacre.com), an educational summer program for teens, will offer a new photography track (http://longacre.com/camp-life/photography-track-longacre-leadership) in the summer of 2013. The aim of this track is to increase students' technical and artistic abilities.

“If this were a college course, it would be like Introduction to Photojournalism,” says Owner and Director Louise Warner. “The track has two goals. The first is to improve the students' technical ability. Photographers have to understand the fundamentals, so we'll focus on aperture, shutter speed and ISO. The second goal is to give the students a feel for what it's like to move through life like a photographer, always on the lookout for the decisive moment,” a term, she notes, that was coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson, the famous French photojournalist.

CampRatingz.com (http://www.campratingz.com) ranks Longacre in the Top 10 in the U.S., in the Top 5 in the Northeast, and #1 overall in Pennsylvania.

Warner says Longacre will hire a full-time instructor to run the photography track. This instructor will have a background in photography and a passion for working with teenagers. Of the 14 activity periods in a given week, the photography students will spend 4-5 with their instructor. These four periods will include a group shoot, a technology lesson, an individual critique and a group critique.

“The critiques, especially the group critiques, are so important for us,” explains Warner. “They'll change how the students look at photography—lights, borders, focus, etc. The students will get used to talking about their work, which will boost their confidence. And the critiques will offer time for discussion and troubleshooting.

“Beyond those four activity periods,” says Warner, “the students will do what the regular campers do and choose other activities: horses, community service, swimming, whatever it is. The whole time they'll have a fun photography assignment, and we'll encourage them to bring their cameras if they can.

“A typical assignment would last one week and end with a group critique,” she explains. “One week the assignment might be relationships. The students go about their day, find a relationship they like, and try to identify the decisive moment—that's the artistic part. Then they have to do their best to capture the moment—that's the technical part.

“And who knows what they'll come up with? For relationships, maybe it'll be a cow and her calf, or a boyfriend and a girlfriend, or spaghetti and meatballs, or a soccer ball and cleats. It's totally up to them. That's the fun of it, they're learning to be photojournalists.”

In addition to weeklong assignments, each student will identify a summer long project that applies specifically to his or her interests.

The photography students can expect three products from the photography track: a gallery show, a slide show, and a digital portfolio. For the gallery show, Longacre has partnered with the Perry County Council of the Arts (PCCA), a local arts organization. The show will be displayed at the PCCA gallery in Newport, just in time for Longacre's Parents Weekend.

The digital portfolio will be what the students take home with them. The photographs in that portfolio can be used to further their education.

“We're really excited about this,” Warner concludes. “The reality is, Longacre Farm has always been an amazing place to shoot, especially in the summer when everything is so colorful and so busy. They can do portraits, landscapes, we have beautiful vistas, there's action everywhere, and we'll give them opportunities to practice different things like night shots and macros.”

All students must bring a DSLR camera to camp but they do not need experience.

The 4-Week Photography Track costs $500 above the standard tuition of $4,810. The 6-Week Track costs $750 above the standard tuition of $6,190. Applicants should call 717-567-3349, visit longacre.com or email connect@longacre.com.

Longacre Leadership is an overnight educational summer program for teenagers ages 12-18. Founded in 1975, the program is based on a 200-acre farm in Newport, Pennsylvania.